Lena Horne was an African American singer, actor and actress. Not only was she an entertainer whose career spanned seven decades, but she was also a passionate civil rights activist. She released a number of well-received record albums and although she officially retired in 1980, Horne starred in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music , a one-woman show that ran for over 300 performances on Broadway. With her beauty and outstanding stage presence, she created a legacy for herself in the 20th century.
Lena Horne’s biography
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born the only child of her parents Edwin Fletcher Horne and Edna Luise Scottron on June 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. After her father, who was in the gambling business, left the family when she was three years old, Horne went to live with her paternal grandparents.
Her mother was an actress who worked with an AfricanAmerican theater company and generally traveled extensively. Thus, young Horne was practically raised by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. However, her mother often took her with her on her travels and they lived in different parts of the South.
By 1931, after her paternal grandparents died, Horne lived with her mother’s friend for a while before moving in with her mother and new husband. Horne’s unstable life interrupted her elementary education. She attended various small, separate schools in the South with her mother. In Brooklyn she attended Ethical Cultural School, Girls High School and a secretarial school.
What is she known for?
Known as a jazz legend, Lena Horne is described as an amazing woman who was proud of her heritage and would never compromise. It was said that her innate elegance, grace and dignity made her a legendary figure. She played an important role as one who helped elevate the status of African Americans in the performing arts, giving African Americans an enduring legacy.
Civil Rights Activism
Lena Horne’s number one enemy was racial discrimination, and not just for people of color. After World War II (1939-1945) she worked for Japanese Americans who were discriminated against. A passionate civil rights activist, Horne traveled at his own expense to entertain the troops during the war that pitted Germany, Italy, and Japan against France, China, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
According to her Kennedy Center bio, while Horne was signed to entertain the troops for the USO, she wanted to refuse to perform for segregated audiences or for groups where German POWs fronted African-American soldiers.
She campaigned against lynching alongside Eleanor Roosevelt in a mission to get legislation making it illegal to execute people accused of crimes without trial. Horne, a chartered member of the Democratic Party, met with the party committee with President John F. Kennedy at the White House two days before his assassination. During the 1963 march in Washington, she lent her voice and performance to the National Council of Negro Women, the NAACP, and the SNCC.
life and death
Horne was determined to take her mother to work and become a performer, much to the chagrin of her family. The Hornes are well-established, educated citizens with prominent positions in political organizations such as the Urban League (a group working to increase the economic and political power of minorities and end racial discrimination) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Not to be dissuaded from her course, Horne, at the age of 16, accepted an offer to dance in the choir at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. The singing lessons she received in 1934 helped launch her singing career with the Noble Sissle Society Orchestra, which performed in many high-profile nightclubs and hotel ballrooms. After two years in Sissle, Horne left to perform solo at a number of New York clubs.
As an African American, Horne suffered from racial prejudice in the 1940s when she joined the Charlie Barnet Orchestra, an all-white swing band. She often endured humiliation, particularly from hotels and restaurants that catered exclusively to white people.
She left Barnet in 1941 and quickly rose to a new one. Her career as entertainment manager John Hammond earned her a long stint at a famous New York City club known as Cafe Society Downtown. There Horne learned to embrace her African American heritage and joined a movement fighting for equality and justice for people of color in the United States.
Lena Horne has merged her civil rights activism with her career. She became the highest-paid African-American entertainer in the United States after a long stint at the Savoy Plaza Hotel, which garnered her national coverage and a string of film appearances. Her seven-year contract with the film studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer, MGM, also made her the first African American woman since 1915 to sign a fixed-term contract with a film studio.
Despite all the restrictions on racial people in the 1930s and 40s, Horne made a significant impact on Hollywood. What was special about her was that she refused to take roles – singing or acting, which as a woman of color she did not respect.
A “live” album was released in 1995, chronicling their performance at the Supper Club. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 1998 Horne released another studio album, Being Myself and later a studio came back in 2000 to contribute vocal tracks to the Classic Ellington Album.
The jazz icon died on May 9, 2010 at the age of 92. She suffered heart failure shortly before her death and was cremated after her funeral service. Thousands gathered at the site to mourn her, including Hollywood stars.
children
Horne and her first husband Louis Jordan Jones(1933 – 1944) had two children, Gail Buckley and Edwin Jones. She is also a grandmother to her son’s four children, Thomas, William, Samadhi and Lena. and her daughter’s two children, Jenny and Amy Lumet. One of her great-grandchildren is Jake Cannavale.